


expectations

by xogray



Series: percabeth oneshots [34]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Annabeth Chase & Piper McLean Friendship, Drinking, First Kiss, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26763658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xogray/pseuds/xogray
Summary: “percy,” annabeth said. his hand, which had been resting at the base of her spine, drifted down just until the very tip of his pinky slid into her back pocket. “what are you really doing?” she asked.he leaned in so that his cheek was pressed against her temple and his lips were next to her ear. “i may have heard a rumor,” he said, “that you like me.”- or the one in which percy teases annabeth when he really shouldn’t
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: percabeth oneshots [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839274
Comments: 1
Kudos: 144





	expectations

percy didn’t understand how he didn’t realize sooner. honestly, annabeth wasn’t very subtle. she would blush and stutter around him, he’d caught her staring at him on multiple occasions, and he’d seen her and piper whispering to each other while looking over at him. it was so… obvious. yet he still wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t accidentally seen piper’s text yesterday.

he had been sitting on annabeth’s bed, trying to get through his textbook. she had gone to the bathroom and a few seconds after she left, her phone dinged next to him a few times. he hadn’t meant to snoop. he had just glanced over at the noise.

but then he saw his name.

**from: piper**  
_i think you should tell him. i mean it’s percy, he’s your best friend_

_liking him wouldn’t destroy a friendship like yours_

he read the texts before the lockscreen went dark. then he blinked a few times, wondering if he’d imagined it. but a moment later, annabeth had come back in, picked up her phone, and her eyes flickered to percy anxiously after she read the texts. he hadn’t imagined it.

since then, he’d been trying to figure out exactly how to tell annabeth he liked her too. because _obviously_ he did. how could he not? he wanted to tell her tonight though. they were going to jason’s party and after silently pining after her for years, he was tired of waiting. 

he finished getting ready and shot annabeth a text to let her know he was leaving soon. he would be driving to her apartment and together, they would uber from there to the party. percy fully expected both of them to drink at least a little so he a) didn’t want either of them driving and b) wanted to be able to go home with her so he could have comfort knowing she was safe. he left a few minutes later, once she sent a thumbs up emoji in response to his text.

as he turned on to her street, he realized suddenly how nervous he was. after he’d seen the texts from piper, he’d become a stuttering mess. and that was around annabeth in no makeup and sweatpants. which she obviously looked great in, but now she was going to be all dressed up and even cuter than yesterday. 

whether she knew it or not, she was going to be the death of him. true to his prediction, annabeth looked beautiful. more than beautiful actually. she wore black denim shorts, a tight, black shirt that laced up in the front, and black converse. his eyes briefly lingered on the strip of skin exposed at her midriff. her blonde curls were up in a ponytail, a few pieces framing her face, and she had silver hoop earrings. her intense gray eyes stood out from the mascara around them. then she smiled at him and fuck, percy was in love. 

“hey,” she said, opening the door further to let him in. “i ordered the uber, it should be here any minute.”

“okay, cool,” he said. annabeth shut the door behind and when she turned to face him, he blatantly looked her up and down, taking her in. “you look pretty.”

annabeth blinked a few times before her cheeks flushed and she twisted her fingers together. she did that when she was nervous. “thank you,” she said, smiling shyly. now that percy _knew_ she liked him, he caught every little reaction she gave to his attention. a little part of him hoped he would still have this effect on her if (or when) they started dating. until then, he would enjoy teasing her a little before he confessed.

he wanted to ask if she’d gotten all dolled up for someone specific, just to see her blush again, but she looked down at her phone and said, “oh, it’s here,” before he got the chance. he let her lead the way and they got in the back of the car. the driver confirmed her name and the address before they fell into silence, aside from the soft music of the radio.

percy had to force himself not to continuously look over at annabeth. he wanted to tease her, sure, but he didn’t want to make it super obvious right off the bat. but her top specifically really… captured his attention. it had thin straps and the lace-up front was tied up fairly tight for the most part, but it was looser at the very top and it showed off her tan skin beautifully. he didn’t realize he was staring until the driver randomly cleared his throat and percy’s eyes snapped away. 

so much for being subtle. he risked another glance at annabeth, who was typing away on her phone. percy just had to pray she hadn’t caught him staring literally directly at her chest earlier. he wouldn’t really be able to provide an excuse for it other than _i’m kind of in love with you and you’re beautiful._

the next seven minutes consisted of percy keeping his eyes locked on his phone in order to keep him from looking at his best friend. the driver pulled up to the house and chuckled when he saw it. percy understood why. jason wasn’t really the one throwing the party, it was jason’s fraternity. so said party was at a party house, which meant it was a mess. people were already everywhere, colorful lights shone through the windows, and music could be heard already, even with the car doors still closed. 

“have fun, guys,” the driver said as percy and annabeth shuffled out of the car.

annabeth threw out a quick, “thanks!” before shutting the door. he drove off and percy looked over at annabeth and smiled. the colorful lights faintly reflected off her face and percy would’ve been happy just looking at her like this the whole night. but he had other plans too that he needed to see through.

“come on,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her along. as he pulled her up the stairs, he glanced back at her and she had a wide smile that took his breath away. as they pushed through the crowd, he never let go of her hand. they found the tables with drinks and he handed annabeth a peach twisted tea. her favorite. they’d been to enough college parties to know not to drink anything already opened or made by anyone else, so they always settled for canned drinks. 

percy stepped closer to her. “i wanna find piper and jason,” he said, leaning in to place his lips near her ear. when he pulled back, she looked at him with wide eyes. she opened her mouth, as if to respond, then closed it and simply nodded. he looked around until he saw a big group of buff white guys. yeah, that was probably jason’s frat brothers. he led annabeth in that direction, tightening his grip on her hand. he was about to pull her closer to say something, anything just to see her flustered, when they heard piper’s voice over the loud music.

“annabeth!”

they turned to see piper and jason waving at them. annabeth dropped percy’s hand and made a beeline for piper, grabbing her wrist and dragging her elsewhere. jason watched them disappear before looking at percy in confusion. percy smiled.

“annabeth likes me,” he said simply. jason’s eyes widened.

“what? how do you know?” he asked.

“i may have accidentally seen texts from piper on annabeth’s phone yesterday,” he said. jason beamed at him and hit his shoulder lightly.

“get your girl, dude!” he exclaimed, making percy smile harder. “have you already talked to her about it?”

“no,” percy said, “i’m going to tonight. but i’m gonna be flirty and whatever before then just to see her get all flustered.” they both laughed and took sips of their beer as piper and annabeth returned. percy noticed a twinkle in piper’s eye when she looked at him and he smiled. then he turned to annabeth, who stood beside him.

he stepped closer and gently placed a hand on her back. she straightened up at his touch. “you okay?” he asked, leaning in and lowering her voice so only she could hear. she looked up at him. her gray eyes looked rainbow as the lights reflected off them.

“yeah, why?”

“just the way you ran off,” he shrugged. “wanted to make sure.”

annabeth smiled softly. “i’m good.”

“good.” without another thought, his hand that was on her back slid over until it was wrapped around her waist. her grip on her drink tightened slightly and annabeth’s eyes snapped over to piper, who was already watching them closely. percy watched as annabeth and piper had a quick, silent conversation with just their eyes. 

“do you guys have plans for spring break?” jason asked, breaking up the girls’ exchange.

piper’s eyes lit up. “we’re thinking about renting a beach house!” she exclaimed. “we were thinking the four of us, frank, hazel, leo, and calypso? and maybe thalia, reyna, will, and nico if they’re free? i’m not sure if their spring break lines up with ours though. but would you guys be down?”

“absolutely,” annabeth said instantly. then they all looked at percy.

“i’ll, uh, have to check with my mom and see if she wanted me to visit or anything. but i should be fine to come too.”

piper and jason took this explanation easily but annabeth kept her eyes on him. she knew his mother was struggling right now. her writing hadn’t been going so well and with a new baby, her and paul’s salaries were just barely cutting it. percy tugged her closer by the waist and pressed a kiss to her temple. “it’ll be fine,” he said gently, looking down at her. she studied him for a moment and he could tell she wasn’t just wondering about spring break anymore. 

“we’ll be right back,” piper said, dragging jason away. annabeth watched them leave before turning towards percy. he kept his grip on her waist.

“how are your parents doing?” she asked. he took a sip of his beer. she was looking at him with wide eyes and it took everything in him not to kiss her.

“they’re okay,” percy said. “stella isn’t making it easy on them. mom hardly has time to write.”

with his arm wrapped around her and his hand settled on her lower back, he began to run his thumb over the strip of skin exposed on her side, right above the waistband of her shorts. it was hard to tell under the neon lights, but he hoped the gesture made her blush.

“like i said, it’ll be fine,” he told her. she nodded. they stood that way for another moment and there was a thick tension between them. he was sure she felt it too. but it was broken when a familiar song began to play and annabeth’s eyes lit up.

“i love this song,” she said happily. she removed herself from his grasp and pulled him closer to a crowd of people dancing. he took a large gulp of his beer as he was tugged along. he hated dancing and he would need a little more alcohol in him to enjoy it. 

he was wrong. he didn’t need more alcohol to enjoy it because watching annabeth light up made dancing one of his new favorite things and he would do it every day if he got to see her like this. she would pull his hand and try to get him to dance along too and each time, he would dramatically protest to make her laugh.

occasionally though, he would move along to the beat. he spun her a few times, again just to make her laugh and hopefully blush. anytime percy would pull her closer, she would gaze up at him with big eyes and an even bigger smile. she was radiant and nothing on earth could’ve made him stop loving her as much as he did.

annabeth’s baby hairs clung to her forehead with sweat and she giggled as he pulled her into his chest. 

“i’m all gross now,” she complained and he chuckled.

“you’re beautiful,” he replied, his hand holding her waist. this entire time, they’d both only had one hand free due to their now empty drinks occupying the other, and percy had legitimately considered tossing his can to the floor so he could hold her closer and tighter.

a song with a deeper bass came on and percy bit his lip, debating whether or not to take a risk. in the end, he figured he was going to confess his feelings at some point tonight anyways, so why not?

he took her hand and spun her again. halfway through the spin, once annabeth was facing away from him, he brought his arm down without disconnecting their hands. she ended up with her back against his chest, his arm across her stomach, and their hands intertwined. annabeth stiffened briefly before relaxing against him and giggling softly. their hips moved together in time and percy thought he felt her breathing get a little heavier. she leaned her head back against him, tilting it to the side a little. whether she meant to give him the opportunity or not, he took it. 

he leaned down until his head was pressed into the crook of her neck and laid a gentle kiss on her skin. annabeth gasped quietly.

“percy,” she said. she didn’t move away from him though, so he took that as a good sign. 

“yes?” he asked against her skin. maybe he imagined it, but he thought he heard her whimper. he let go of her hand and wrapped his arm completely around her waist, pulling her even closer. their bodies made contact in countless places and annabeth let out a low hum. he couldn’t hear it, really, but he felt the vibrations of it where his lips were still gently pressed to her neck.

“what are you doing?” she asked. she was so quiet compared to the music, he almost didn’t hear it.

“dancing.” 

she chuckled and simply kept her hips moving with his. she smelled like lemon and it was so intoxicating, he wanted more. so he spun her around again, this time placing a hand on her lower back. their chests and hips were pressed together. annabeth sucked in a breath as she looked up at him with giant eyes. the familiar gray was pushed into a thinner ring around her pupils, which had dilated twice their original size. 

she was more than beautiful. god, she was everything to him. and he wanted to kiss her. but he wanted to confess how he felt first. he wanted to get his message across as clearly as he could.

of course, he fucked that up though.

“percy,” annabeth said again. his hand, which had been resting at the base of her spine, drifted down just until the very tip of his pinky slid into her back pocket. her eyes fluttered closed for a second before they opened back up. “what are you really doing?” she asked. he bit his lip.

he leaned in so that his cheek was pressed against her temple and his lips were next to her ear. he paused for a moment. “i may have heard a rumor,” he said, “that you like me.”

wrong thing to say, he decided instantly. she stopped moving and looked at him. in her eyes, he saw an expression he’d only seen a handful of times in their six years of friendship. fear. her gaze went from his eyes to the can he was holding. her hand, which had been pressed to his side, lifted until she was taking the can from him and shaking it lightly to confirm that it was empty.

he was too slow to realize her thoughts. her eyes now filled with something he’d seen before, but never from something he’d done. hurt. she pulled away from him altogether and turned, pushing her way through the crowd to get away from him.

she thought he was acting like this because he was drunk. percy was notorious for being a lightweight but even she should’ve known one beer wouldn’t have even gotten him tipsy. right now, he was feeling just a little buzzed. nowhere near drunk. 

he ran after her. “annabeth!” he called. he followed her until she was outside and almost all the way across the lawn. percy reached out to grab her wrist and she turned, yanking her hand away from him. a few tears had begun to fall down her face.

“what was your plan?” she asked bitterly. “you find out that i like you so you thought, what? maybe if you were all flirty, you’d get laid or something?” she looked into the sky as more tears slid down her cheeks. “fuck,” she muttered weakly.

a million thoughts raced through his head. and yet, he couldn’t find anything to say. he stared at her, dumbfounded. annabeth wiped her tears and looked at him again.

“how did you find out?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“um,” he started to pull himself together, “yesterday, at your house. you had gone to the bathroom and piper texted you. about me. and i saw the texts when they popped up on your lock screen. i didn’t… i didn’t mean to read them but then i saw my name.”

she let out a humorless laugh and nodded. she was looking at him with so much pain and hurt in her eyes, it broke percy’s heart.

“annabeth,” he said gently. “i don’t know where you got the idea that i would do something like use your feelings for me as a way to just… have sex. that’s not… i’m not like that. to anyone, but especially not you.”

she wasn’t looking at him and she was still crying. “you’re drunk,” she said, “or at least tipsy.”

“no,” he replied. “i’m a little buzzed, sure. but i know what i’m doing. i’ve known what i’ve been doing the whole night.”

“which is what, exactly?”

he sighed and stepped closer to her. “i was being all flirty and everything because i wanted to tease you a little and see you flustered. not to use you.”

she blinked. percy realized if he was ever going to confess his feeling, now would be the time. the last thing he wanted for annabeth to continue believing he would ever, _ever,_ try to take advantage of her feelings for him.

“and i was doing that because i find it really cute. when you’re all blushy and flustered.” he stepped closer and took her face in his hands. “i wanted to tell you at some point tonight how i felt about you. and i thought it would be fun to tease at first. because it is really adorable. and i was going to tell you how much i like you too. which i hoped would make up for teasing you.”

she studied him with furrowed eyebrows. “you like me?”

“duh,” he stated. “how could i not? you’re my best friend and i trust you more than anyone. you’re beautiful and caring and funny and so fucking smart, to the point where it’s kinda hot. you’re there for me and you make me happier than anything in the world. i’m sorry for messing with you tonight. if i had known it was going to come across the way it did and hurt you, i never would’ve.”

annabeth’s mascara was smudged under her eyes from her tears, which were still flowing freely down her cheeks. she had a small smile and a look of awe. and she was beautiful.

percy moved his hands to her waist. she was looking up at him with wide eyes that looked black from the lack of light around them.

“i’m sorry,” he said again. “i never wanted to hurt you.”

she nodded. “i know,” she whispered. her hands came up to rest on his biceps. she cleared her throat and smiled softly. “i believe you were going to tell me how much you like me?”

percy laughed softly, relief flooding his body. they would be okay.

“i love you,” he said simply. her eyes widened. percy heard her breath catch in her throat.

“you- oh,” she replied softly. he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and then tightened his grip on her, wrapping his arms around her body. annabeth’s lips were parted as she tried to come up with a reply. 

percy chuckled. he leaned forward and placed his lips on her jaw, close to her ear. “usually this is the part where you’d say it back,” he murmured. he pressed soft kisses on her skin, where her jaw met her neck. annabeth sucked in a sharp breath before sighing and relaxing against him.

“i love you too,” she breathed. her grip on his arms tightened and percy smiled. he pulled back and her eyes were glittering and he really wanted to kiss her.

so he did. he leaned forward and pressed their lips together. annabeth responded instantly and eagerly, sliding her arms up to wrap around his neck. her body was so small and warm against his and he never wanted to let go. annabeth’s lips moved in time with his and she tasted like peach. percy normally hated peach but right now, he’d never been happier to taste it. 

she tried to pull back after a moment but he moved with her, chasing her lips. annabeth giggled into the kiss and she let it continue for a little while longer before actually pulling away. percy took note of how breathless she was and he almost leaned in again. 

“i’ve been waiting so long for that,” she muttered with a smile. 

percy’s eyes searched hers and his lips quirked upwards. “did it meet your expectations?”

annabeth laughed quietly and leaned in for another, much softer, kiss. “absolutely.”

percy beamed at her and was about to pull her in again when a loud, tipsy voice rang out across the yard. “oh my god, fucking finally!” piper yelled as she and jason walked across the lawn. his arm was around piper’s waist as he supported her in her drunk state. annabeth giggled softly as she leaned against percy’s chest and looked up at him.

“yeah,” she said playfully, making percy grin too. “fucking finally.”


End file.
